The question that many healthy adults and non-essential workers have is: when can they get the Covid vaccine?
“There is a bit of confusion” about the schedule, said White House chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, during an interview with “Pod Save America” on Thursday. But there are three different “goals” to consider, he said.
Here’s what you need to know about the current schedule, from eligibility to delivery to getting an appointment.
Healthy young people will be eligible to be vaccinated in May or June
Given the limited supply of Covid vaccines, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that the Centers for Disease Control prioritize vaccinating high-risk groups first. This includes: healthcare providers, residents of nursing homes, the elderly, essential workers and people with underlying health problems that put them at an increased risk of serious Covid disease. (To check your eligibility status, you can use the NBC News plan for your vaccine tool.)
As the vaccine supply increases, ACIP will expand its recommendations.
It will take until May or early June to get through the priority groups, Fauci told co-host Jon Favreau to “Pod Save America”.
Only when this is completed, “anyone” can get in line for a vaccine, said Fauci.
Originally, Fauci estimated that April would be a “hunting season” for vaccines, which means that healthy young people can go into a pharmacy and get vaccinated. But that was postponed, because “we didn’t have as much vaccine as we would like,” he said.
There should be enough vaccine for all Americans by July
Eligibility is one thing and having enough vaccine is another.
Production “will continue to increase as we move forward” thanks to the National Defense Production Act, which allows Pfizer and Moderna to increase production of vaccine raw materials, President Joe Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday .
By the end of May, the United States should have 400 million doses, said Biden. In July, the country “will probably have all the 600 million doses we contracted to vaccinate 300 million people,” said Fauci.
That means that by the end of July, there will be enough doses of the vaccine available to inoculate all Americans, said Biden.